The present application claims priority under 35 USC 119 to Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-308492 filed on Oct. 6, 2000 the entire contents thereof is hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a waste recovery station for recovering waste from a beach cleaner after the waste is raked up by a beach cleaner for cleaning a sandy beach such as a bathing beach.
2. Description of Background Art
In a sandy beach such as a bathing beach or a dunes waste such as fishing net fragments, vinyl strings, paper scraps, wood pieces such as driftwood, empty cans, and cigarette ends are scattered along the beach. If the waste is left on the beach, the sandy beach becomes more and more dirt. In addition, sea bathers may be accidentally injured. Thus, for example, just before the sea bathing season a clean-up by using a beach cleaner occurs for recovering waste from the sandy beach.
As a conventional beach cleaner there has been adopted a each cleaner of the type in which waste present on or in sand is scooped up together with sand by means of a scooping machine provided in a front portion of a self-traveling type frame and the waste and the sand are separated from each other while being conveyed by a belt conveyor, the sand is allowed to drop onto the sandy beach from which it has been scooped up, while the waste is recovered into a basket or the like. However, the beach cleaner having a self-traveling frame intends to complete the recovery of waste by making a round of the sandy beach at a low speed throughout the entire traversal of the sandy beach. Such a beach cleaner requires a long cleaning time and is not efficient; besides, since the entire structure is complicated and is large in size, the beach cleaner is heavy and maintenance and servicing is complicated and require a long time. Further, the manufacturing cost becomes high.
In view of the above-mentioned points the present invention is directed to a beach cleaner A of a simple type that is adapted to travel on a sandy beach at a high speed while being towed by a self-traveling vehicle R, such as indicated with a dash-double dot line in FIGS. 1 to 3.
The beach cleaner A comprises a frame 3 formed in a square hurdle shape in plan view and in a sled shape in side view with front and rear sides that are inclined so as to be higher toward both ends. A plurality of longitudinal members 2 are arranged through appropriate spacings and are fixed inside an outer frame 1. A plurality of rakes 4 are fixed at appropriate intervals in the longitudinal direction to lower surfaces of horizontal portions 2a of the longitudinal members 2 of the frame 3 and are arranged in a zigzag fashion in plan view while being displaced in a longitudinal phase between adjacent longitudinal members 2. A scraper 5 positioned on the front side of the horizontal portions 2a in the frame 3 and is fixed perpendicularly to and projecting downward from both-side longitudinal frames 1a of the outer frame 1 and the longitudinal members 2. The scraper 5 is inclined downwardly on a front side of the scraper 5. A pair of front engaging members 6 and a pair of rear engaging members 6 projecting outwardly from the longitudinal frames 1a of the outer frame 1. A plurality of rotary blades 7 are supported by a support shaft which is fixed to the rear end side of the frame 3. The rotary blades 7 are adapted to rotate freely between adjacent longitudinal members 3. A waste catch net 8 is removably stretched on an upper surface of the frame 3.
For cleaning a sandy beach, a chain or wire J for example, which is anchored to the self-traveling vehicle R is connected to hooks 9 fixed to a pair of longitudinal members 2 which are located at transversely symmetric positions on the front end side of the frame 3. The self-traveling vehicle R is allowed to travel longitudinally and transversely in a required cleaning area of the sandy beach, whereby waste present on and in the sand are caught on the rakes 4 of the frame 3 and are collected in an appropriate place.
Although the above beach cleaner A is of a simple type and can easily be moved to the waste collection place with waste caught on the rakes 4 to permit recovery of the waste, it is necessary to remove the waste manually from the rakes 4 every time the waste is to be recovered. At this time, it is necessary to lift the frame 3 to let the waste drop onto the sand. Thus, the work for removing waste from the beach cleaner A requires much labor and time and is therefore inefficient. For this reason it has been desired to develop an apparatus capable of removing waste easily from the beach cleaner A.
The present invention has been accomplished in view of the above-mentioned circumstances and it is an object of the invention to provide a waste recovery station for a beach cleaner that is simple in structure and capable of easily recovering waste from a beach cleaner after raked up by the beach cleaner.
For solving the above-mentioned problems the present invention is characterized by the following points.
The waste recovery station for a beach cleaner according to the present invention includes a pair of station members, the station members include guide members and support posts, the support posts each having a foot at a lower end thereof. The guide members are fixed onto an upper end of the support posts and being each are formed so as to be rectilinear in plan view and so that in side view a longitudinally central portion thereof is a horizontal portion and both end sides thereof are bent downwardly at an obtuse angle to form slant portions, the pair of station members are installed by arranging the guide members in parallel with each other through a predetermined spacing in a plan view and by grounding the foot of each support post.
In this waste recovery station for a beach cleaner, when a self-traveling vehicle passes between the station members at a low speed while towing a beach cleaner with waste caught on the rakes, engaging members provided on a frame of the beach cleaner come into engagement with the slant portions of the guide members, so that the beach cleaner is lifted gradually along the rear slant portion, becomes horizontal at the longitudinal central portions of the station members and the rakes secure to a lower surface of the frame are spaced a suitable distance upwardly from an upper surface of the sand. At this instant, the waste caught on the rakes of the beach cleaner drop naturally onto the sand in the waste recovery station. When the waste is recovered in the waste recovery station, the beach cleaner is moved away from the same station. With this movement, the engaging members come into engagement with the front slant portions of the station members, the beach cleaner moves down gradually along the slant portion and the rakes are brought into contact with the sand.
According to this waste recovery station for a beach cleaner, as the beach cleaner passes between the station members, it is lifted easily to a required height above the sand and the rakes thereof are spaced sufficiently from the upper surface of the sand, so that the waste caught on the rakes is allowed to drop naturally and is recovered within the waste recovery station easily.
Besides, since the waste recovery station is simply composed of support posts and guide members having slant portions and fixed onto the support posts, it is simple in structure and easy to manufacture.
In the present invention, a waste recovery station for a beach cleaner wherein the guide members are each divided at an approximately intermediate portion in the longitudinal direction thereof and the divided intermediate portions of each guide member are connected together disconnectably.
According to this construction, since constituent members of the waste recovery station are each divided into a plurality of members, individually divided members are smaller in size and hence easier to handle and transport.
In the present invention a waste recovery station is provided for a beach cleaner wherein the station members are connected with each other through a connecting member mounted between the lower end or feet of the support posts.
According to this construction, the station members are grounded while the spacing thereof is set constant and this state is maintained stably, so that the beach cleaner can be lifted safely.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.